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With Mike Wallace already gone and Emmanuel Sanders supposedly mulling an offer from the Patriots that the Steelers may not be able to match, it is very likely the Steelers will be looking for at least one wide receiver in this draft. While the draft lacks elite talent at wide receiver, it is filled with plenty of talent in the mid rounds. Here is a look at a few of those options.

Regardless of the outcome of the Emmanuel Sanders situation, it's likely the Steelers will be looking to add a receiver in the 2013 NFL Draft.

The top receivers have been mentioned previously, but it's a solid mid-round draft for receivers as well.

Second Round Options

Markus Wheaton, Oregon State - Wheaton is a 6-foot-1 receiver who has good speed and great hands. He runs crisp routes and dominated the Pac-12 in his last year of college, totalling over 90 receptions and over 1100 yards and 11 touchdowns. He would be a great compliment to Antonio Brown.

Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech - Patton, at 6-foot-0, 205 pounds is a big bodied receiver with above average speed. He is great as a blocker, runs good routes, and rarely drops anything. He is very shifty, can make people miss in the open field, and is great at adjusting to poorly thrown balls.

Robert Woods, USC - Woods is built similarly to Patton at 6-foot-0, 201 pounds. He is the best route runner in the draft and almost never drops anything. He ran a 4.51 forty-yard dash so he has good speed. He had a tough junior year because of Matt Barkley's struggles but he still has a great future. The Steelers have shown plenty of interest in him and he seems like a great option.

Third Round Options

Stedman Bailey, West Virginia - Bailey is a small receiver at just 5-foot-10 but he runs incredible routes and has great hands. He is tough to bring down in the open field and plays much bigger than he is. He won't wow you with break away speed but he would get the job done. However, he is built like another Antonio Brown and the Steelers may not need another small, shifty receiver.

Cobi Hamilton, Arkansas - Hamilton, at 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, is a big wide receiver with good speed as well. He had a great year at Arkansas this year, with his biggest game being against Rutgers and second round draft prospect Logan Ryan. He is physical and is a good route runner and would excel on the outside where he can use his size to his advantage.

Ryan Swope, Texas A&M - Swope, at 6-foot-0, has blazing speed, running an official 4.34 40. He is a phenomenal route runner and has great hands. He is great at selling his routes and knows how to play the game. He is not an elite level athlete as a leaper but he could get the job done as an outside receiver.

Fourth Round Options

Marquise Goodwin, Texas - Goodwin is a small, shifty, blazing fast wide receiver who nearly broke Chris Johnson's forty yard dash record running a 4.27. However, he is not much of a football player and more of just a track star.

Aaron Mellette, Elon - Mellete is a big receiver at 6-foot-2, 217 pounds. He has decent speed and has good hands. He runs good routes and has great body control as well. He is not going to blow you away with blazing speed but he can break a big play off every once in a while.

Kenny Stills, Oklahoma - Stills is 6-foot-0, 194 pounds with unreal speed, running a sub 4.4 40. He has good hands and is very flexible and can adjust to poorly thrown balls. However, he is not very physical and his durability may be a concern.

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Not long after free agency launched, the Patriots brought in receiver Emmanuel Sanders for a visit. When an offer sheet wasn’t quickly signed, many assumed that it wouldn’t be.

But there’s no hurry, yet. As Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com explains it, the Pats (and every other team) have until April 19 to sign any restricted free agent to an offer sheet. The player’s current team then would have five days (down from seven under past labor deals) to match.

In Sanders’ case, the Patriots would have to give up a third-round pick if the Steelers won’t or can’t match. Yates surmises that the Patriots may be waiting for the Steelers to make another move or two, which could make it harder to match a frontloaded offer. Delay, however, gives the Steelers more time to get their salary-cap ducks in a row, plotting moves that would be made if they suddenly have 120 hours to clear enough cap space to keep Sanders.

Few teams sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. Some think it makes no sense to negotiate a contract that the player’s current team will simply match. Others believe teams don’t want to part with draft picks. Some (OK, me and possibly no one else) suspect that teams are subtly colluding when it comes to restricted free agents.

Regardless, more than three weeks remain before this year’s RFA market officially closes. Even if it never actually opens.

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»Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Reciever Emmanuel Sanders Likely to Stay

Jason Bridge- USA TODAY Sports
A week ago, it looked a little like the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to be very short-handed at wide receiver. They had given wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders a tender offer as a restricted free agent, which would allow the Steelers to retain him next season while they worked out a long-term contract extension. The offer would pay Sanders $1.23 million for 2013, a considerable raise over the $490,000 he was paid in 2012.

The way restricted free agency works, if another team would chose to sign Sanders to a contract, the Steelers would have a week to match it. If the Steelers chose not to, the team that signed him would give the Steelers their third round pick. A week ago, it sounded like the New England Patriots were the team to make that offer and their salary cap would allow them to make Sanders an offer the Steelers could not match.

But this week, it is being reported that the Patriots interest in Sanders has wavered and the team is instead pursuing Darrius Heyward Bey. This is excellent news for the Steelers, because it would have left a significant hole in the starting lineup if Sanders had left. This would be on the heels of losing wide receiver Mike Wallace as well, leaving only Antonio Brown on the team with any significant playing time.

Instead, the Steelers look to be able to retain Sanders and not be forced into a position to draft a wide receiver early, and they can instead focus on other areas in the 2013 NFL draft. This is great news for the Steelers and their fans, and gives optimism for the passing offense going forward.

Read more at [url]http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/03/26/pittsburgh-steelers-wide-reciever-emmanuel-sanders-likely-to-stay/?1vBOpk6eBmzkjrrb.99[/url]

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Originally Posted by supersteeler

»Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Reciever Emmanuel Sanders Likely to Stay

Jason Bridge- USA TODAY Sports
A week ago, it looked a little like the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to be very short-handed at wide receiver. They had given wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders a tender offer as a restricted free agent, which would allow the Steelers to retain him next season while they worked out a long-term contract extension. The offer would pay Sanders $1.23 million for 2013, a considerable raise over the $490,000 he was paid in 2012.

The way restricted free agency works, if another team would chose to sign Sanders to a contract, the Steelers would have a week to match it. If the Steelers chose not to, the team that signed him would give the Steelers their third round pick. A week ago, it sounded like the New England Patriots were the team to make that offer and their salary cap would allow them to make Sanders an offer the Steelers could not match.

But this week, it is being reported that the Patriots interest in Sanders has wavered and the team is instead pursuing Darrius Heyward Bey. This is excellent news for the Steelers, because it would have left a significant hole in the starting lineup if Sanders had left. This would be on the heels of losing wide receiver Mike Wallace as well, leaving only Antonio Brown on the team with any significant playing time.

Instead, the Steelers look to be able to retain Sanders and not be forced into a position to draft a wide receiver early, and they can instead focus on other areas in the 2013 NFL draft. This is great news for the Steelers and their fans, and gives optimism for the passing offense going forward.

Read more at [URL]http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/03/26/pittsburgh-steelers-wide-reciever-emmanuel-sanders-likely-to-stay/?1vBOpk6eBmzkjrrb.99[/URL]

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Just in case fans wern't paying attention check out the Steelers receiving stats last season.
Sanders led all receivers with a 14.2 average, was only targeted 74 times compared to Wallace who was targeted 119 times.
Sanders finished with 626 yrds. on 44 catches, while Wallace finished with 836 with 64 catches.

If Sanders would of had the same amount of catches as Wallace his total would of been 910 yards or even higher with the same amount of targets.
As the article stated, retaining Sanders would enable the Steelers to consider other positions early instead of being forced to fill the WR position. The Sanders and Brown combo might turn out to be better than expected, in the meantime Sanders could still be picked up by another team but I doubt they would give up a third to get him.

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Originally Posted by supersteeler

Just in case fans wern't paying attention check out the Steelers receiving stats last season.
Sanders led all receivers with a 14.2 average, was only targeted 74 times compared to Wallace who was targeted 119 times.
Sanders finished with 626 yrds. on 44 catches, while Wallace finished with 836 with 64 catches.

If Sanders would of had the same amount of catches as Wallace his total would of been 910 yards or even higher with the same amount of targets.
As the article stated, retaining Sanders would enable the Steelers to consider other positions early instead of being forced to fill the WR position. The Sanders and Brown combo might turn out to be better than expected, in the meantime Sanders could still be picked up by another team but I doubt they would give up a third to get him.

Ben has always liked Sanders so if he can stay healthy then I agree he can have a big year. While I didn't like to lose a receiver of Wallace's caliber Sanders is the reason it didn't concern me as much as some. I think we will still have a good receiving corp.